Raiders' Five-Game Win Spoils Bulldogs' Senior Night

Nov 15, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS - Butler led 2-0, and had a pair
of match points in the third set, but couldn't sustain the
momentum, falling to Wright State 26-24, 25-19, 25-27, 18-25, 9-15
on senior night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.The loss drops Butler to 18-10
overall and 8-8 in Horizon League action.

Wright State (15-14, 10-5 HL) took an early lead in the initial
stanza, pulling ahead 18-12 midway through the set. The Bulldogs
fought back, chipping away at the Raiders' lead as a kill by Porshia Allen
tied the set at 23. Another kill by Allen gave Wright State the
24-23 edge, but Shaunda Sandifer's kill would knot things back at
24. Allen then took it upon herself to put the set away, recording
back-to-back kills, and giving the Bulldogs the 26-24 win.

Butler used the momentum from the first set to jump out to a 9-2
lead in the next set. Wright State then fought back to tie it at
10, before the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to put the set out of
reach.

The third set was a battle throughout, with neither team leading
by more than three points. With Butler taking a 24-22 lead late in
the set, it looked as though a sweep over the Raiders was imminent.
But, a kill by WSU's Jessica Woods followed by a Butler attacking
error tied the game at 24. Lexi Leonhard gave the Raiders a 25-24
lead with her kill off the block, but the Raiders couldn't
capitalize, with a service error on the ensuing point, tying the
game at 25. Wright State then pulled out the third set win with
kills from Michelle Hammond and Leonhard.

The Raiders took advantage of the change in momentum in the
fourth set to pull out to a 16-11 and never looked back, holding
Butler to a .054 clip.

With the score tied 3-3 in the fifth frame, kills by Leonhard,
Hammon and Sandifer pushed the Raiders out to an early 6-3 lead.
The Bulldogs pulled back to within 7-6 off of a kill by Allen, but
would get no closer throughout the remainder of the match as Wright
State captured the 15-9 win.

"It was a well-fought battle between the two teams," said head
coach Sharon
Clark. "Wright State did what they had to do, and we didn't
finish it at crucial points in the match. On paper, it was very
even between both of our teams, but you have to give them (Wright
State) credit for shutting down our hitters at the end and pulling
out those critical points."

Senior Dana
Daprile, who was one of three seniors honored prior to the
match, led the Bulldogs with 47 assists and 17 digs. Porshia Allen led
Butler's offense with 20 kills, while teammates Jessica Wolfe and
Kelsey
Labrum added 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Katie Daprile led a
balanced defensive effort with 19 digs. Fellow seniors Chloe
Blasingame and Nina
Inic were also recognized in their final match at Hinkle
Fieldhouse.

The Raiders, which held Butler to a .187 hitting percentage on
the match, were led by Leonhard's 23 kills and Leilani Tafuna's 20
digs. Hammond posted a match-high 58 assists on the match.

The Bulldogs will return to action on November 20 in the Horizon
League Tournament, which is hosted by Cleveland State University.